‘EU mission in Central African Rep. unlikely to make a difference’

Neither French troops nor the African-led forces were able to stop the violence in CAR, and EU troops are also unlikely to do it, as the problems are deep-seated and aren’t going to go away fast, Africa affairs analyst Ayo Johnson told RT.

On April 1 the EU officially launched its military mission to the Central African Republic aimed at
supporting French and African forces that have failed to put an
end to the ongoing Christian-Muslim violence. The 1,000-strong
contingent, dubbed EUFOR RCA, will work to restore security in
the CAR capital during a six-month mission, and then will hand it
over to the UN peacekeeping operation or African troops.

RT:The objective of this mission is to
bring safety and security to the capital. Will they be able to do
that do you think?

Ayo Johnson: I believe it is going to be very
tricky, very difficult. You are dealing with the issues of
sectarian violence which is [engulfing] the entire country in
Central African Republic. We have Christian militias which hunt
against Muslims and vice versa. They complain that Muslims had
attacked them first. And ultimately what we have is violence that
have gone out of control. You have a new president, [Catherine]
Samba-Panza, the lady who has got a lot of experience in
government, but [was] unable to curtail the violence. And we have
over the last several months the French troops that have been on
the ground unable to resolve the problem, Central African-led
forces unable to do the job as well.

Of course, now European troops on the ground unlikely to make the
difference because the problems are deep-seated and ultimately
are not going to go away in a hurry. The tensions that exist
right now mean that many families are fleeing in neighboring
countries like Chad, Cameroon, Congo, and not to mention Sudan
itself. And all these countries are fragile states, fragile
countries - their fragility much more apparent as their own
infrastructure which is very weak and stretched and of course
this doesn’t help. So ultimately, the European troops on the
ground are unlikely to resolve the problems right now.

RT:Why does France continue to deploy large
numbers of troops and spend huge amounts of resources on its
former colonies?

AJ: Well, the French were coming at the back end
of [what they saw as their] victory in Mali, but they have not
been able to address the problem, which is why they sought
assistance from European allies which is also showing that they
don’t have the capability to resolve the problem that they know
very little about.

What you do find is that for the French at least, they are trying
to rekindle once-lost influence in that part of the world. They
are trying to ensure that their companies are multinationals take
control over rich minerals that we know exist on the ground –
uranium, gold, diamonds – and for the French are concerned that
this also provides them an opportunity to get there to help with
the infrastructure or the development that is required if the
fighting stops.

We know that the French are very keen to influence their own
brand of democracy on that part of the world, especially in the
CAR right now.

RT:Human Rights Watch has warned the
situation in the Central African Republic is at risk of spiraling
into genocide. Do you see that as a possibility?

AJ: We are already at a major crossroads. The
CAR has millions of people displaced, thousands that have lost
their lives. It's a country that is really poor, unable to
utilize a lot of the resources that it has because of the
fighting that ensued. There is weak governance from Samba-Panza
which is not able to govern and control and at least stop the
fighting. And of course you have interference which comes from
European countries, including the French, to get involved in a
conflict that they know so little about.

Ultimately a country with real problems, the violence cannot be
stopped, the fighting between the Christians and Muslims is
becoming worse, we have seen [it] over the last 10 years at
least. Sectarian violence is becoming the norm.

RT:What can be done to avoid further
escalation?

AJ: Well, more troops were required from the
African-led contingent. Again, the problem you have is that the
Muslims who are in the minority do not trust the French troops,
so even the peacekeepers themselves are having either to take
sides or the people whom they are meant to protect do not trust
them for a thousand reasons. So we need more peacekeepers, but
ones actually that can bridge the gap between Christians and
Muslims, or ultimately we are looking at pouring a lot of money
into the country.

Also, [we need] infrastructure, which needs to be developed. And
of course [we need] support within the government structures so
that mechanisms are in place so that there's a proper
trickle-down of the huge wealth that the CAR has in terms of its
minerals at least so that the people who are in the masses can
benefit and see the benefits themselves tangibly, which has not
happened for some time.

Maybe we may stand a chance for a wider population to look beyond
sectarian violence which is now ensuing and form of way of life.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.